Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands
SUMMARY The intestines of 170 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas , caught off the Faroe Islands (N.E. Atlantic) were examined for helminth parasites. Eight species were detected but only 4 occurred in at least 10% of the sample. No core or recurrent group of species were identified and no...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1993
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000075156 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000075156 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0031182000075156 2024-03-03T08:44:14+00:00 Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands Balbuena, J. A. Raga, J. A. 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000075156 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000075156 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Parasitology volume 106, issue 3, page 327-333 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology journal-article 1993 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000075156 2024-02-08T08:31:08Z SUMMARY The intestines of 170 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas , caught off the Faroe Islands (N.E. Atlantic) were examined for helminth parasites. Eight species were detected but only 4 occurred in at least 10% of the sample. No core or recurrent group of species were identified and no correlations between abundances of species were significant. Diversity values were far below those reported for other endotherms. Colonization by helminths was random, whales not being readily colonized. These features point to largely unpredictable, isolationist infracommunities, there being little potential for inter-specific interactions. Older hosts tended to harbour more diverse infracommunities, offering more opportunities for such interactions. Two hypotheses, which might also apply to other cetaceans, are proposed to account for the depauperate helminth communities of the pilot whale: (i) some ancestral helminth species failed to adapt their cycles to the marine habitat and (ii) the hosts' isolation from land prohibited new infections with helminths of mammals. Article in Journal/Newspaper Faroe Islands Cambridge University Press Faroe Islands Parasitology 106 3 327 333 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
spellingShingle |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology Balbuena, J. A. Raga, J. A. Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
topic_facet |
Infectious Diseases Animal Science and Zoology Parasitology |
description |
SUMMARY The intestines of 170 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas , caught off the Faroe Islands (N.E. Atlantic) were examined for helminth parasites. Eight species were detected but only 4 occurred in at least 10% of the sample. No core or recurrent group of species were identified and no correlations between abundances of species were significant. Diversity values were far below those reported for other endotherms. Colonization by helminths was random, whales not being readily colonized. These features point to largely unpredictable, isolationist infracommunities, there being little potential for inter-specific interactions. Older hosts tended to harbour more diverse infracommunities, offering more opportunities for such interactions. Two hypotheses, which might also apply to other cetaceans, are proposed to account for the depauperate helminth communities of the pilot whale: (i) some ancestral helminth species failed to adapt their cycles to the marine habitat and (ii) the hosts' isolation from land prohibited new infections with helminths of mammals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Balbuena, J. A. Raga, J. A. |
author_facet |
Balbuena, J. A. Raga, J. A. |
author_sort |
Balbuena, J. A. |
title |
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
title_short |
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
title_full |
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
title_fullStr |
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( Globicephala melas ) off the Faroe Islands |
title_sort |
intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale ( globicephala melas ) off the faroe islands |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000075156 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000075156 |
geographic |
Faroe Islands |
geographic_facet |
Faroe Islands |
genre |
Faroe Islands |
genre_facet |
Faroe Islands |
op_source |
Parasitology volume 106, issue 3, page 327-333 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000075156 |
container_title |
Parasitology |
container_volume |
106 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
327 |
op_container_end_page |
333 |
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1792499719780433920 |